Kvetina
by Shadow Gals
Summary: What price would you pay for freedom knowing it is never free? When the Gypsy king and his sister cross paths with a Princess running from her future their world is turned upside down. Secrets are revealed, enemies will be made, and alliances will form in the most unexpected places. (A/U) 1XR, 6XOC


[A.N.] Hello all! Minx and I would like to thank you for checking out this story! We take such joy in writing all out stories and we hope that you will take joy in reading them! It is, I feel pertinent to note that, as we stated on our profile, we do not own any of the traditional characters, however, we do own Thiana. There are not warnings yet but periodically as any disturbing material may surface we will warn you first in the author's note at the beginning. That being said, we invite you to travel on this journey with us and we hope you enjoy the ride!

~Vixen

* * *

The sound of her horse's hooves thundering against the dirt of the path pounded through her ears as they galloped through the forest. She no idea how long she'd been riding, at least two or three days without stopping. She had no idea how far she had traveled; she didn't even know where she was headed but she knew she could not go back. It was the only thing she could do to protect her people as well as herself. It was going to storm and her urgency to find a place to shelter in before it hit drove her on. The flash of lightning around her bounced off the trees, the thunder quickly following spooked and confused her poor horse. He stopped and bulked, rearing up neighing in protest. She stroked his mane, patted his side, talked to him softly to try and comfort him but to no avail.

As another round of thunder crashed through the glade five men jumped out from the trees causing him to pitch forward and throw her off. She felt her head collide with something hard as her body crashed to the ground. Dazed and in pain she reached up to touch her head; thankfully finding no blood. She shook herself, remembering she was not alone. She staggered to her feet and took a stance. Bandits, thieves, or cutthroats? She didn't know. She reached for the dagger she'd kept at her side, pulling it out with a shaky hand.

One of the men stepped forward, clearly their ringleader. He was rugged with a beard and multiple piercings, a fashion statement most of the men shared. She had no idea what these men planned to do. They may simply rob her and let her go but somehow she highly doubted that. She had taken only enough money and valuables with her to get by. Her horse's saddle was the least fancy in the stable without any markings that could possibly indicate where she was from. She had left all forms of identification behind in fear that if she had been found they would use that information to return her, something she could not allow. As they circled up, cornering her against a large tree she steeled her resolve. She had resigned herself to whatever fate would befall her the moment she rode out of the castle gates. She knew the risks, the possibilities and still charged forward. Now, with the lack of sleep and the blow to the head she really wished she'd brought something more than a dagger with her.

* * *

Thiana took a deep breath of the evening air. She could smell the rain from the storm clouds brewing overhead. She love hunting in weather like this; it made her feel alive. She had needed a break from the wagon. She loved her crew the men were her family and they followed her and her brother without question, most of them anyway. However, familiarity does breed contempt and after weeks on the road with their loud behaviors and crude humor she was a little more than testy. For her sanity as much as for their safety, she had to get away.

She took her position watching the buck from her place in the tree. One clean shot would be all she needed as she skillfully drew her bow with the practiced ease of a skilled hunter. She was a natural born predator, a fact that never once escaped the men she helped lead and one that kept her in the position of the high regard she held with them. Breath bye breath, heartbeat by heartbeat she measured the distance waiting for the precise moment that would make the arrow fly on its truest course. Her chance, however, was ruined as the nearby screech from the frantic whinny of a horse startled her quarry making it retreat into the safety of the shadowy forest.

She cursed under her breath in one of the many exotic languages she knew and put away her gear. That had been strange. As many times as they had passed through this territory she had never known anyone to really ever take the trails in this area, least of all with a storm looming. As another frightened Neigh echoed through the forest she decided to check it out. She wasn't against helping an animal in trouble and if that animal was owned by a well-to-do individual the trip to rescue the horse might prove more than worth it. As she neared the clearing where the noises of the poor animal were coming from, however, she found more than what she'd thought. Five of her mean had surrounded a young woman whom they had backed against a tree. The woman stared at her men defiantly, the hand that held her dagger shook slightly but her stance and form was that of someone who knew how to use the small blade. One of her men stepped towards the woman.

"What's wrong, M'lady? You look a little fightened."

"Come no closer." She said, holding her dagger up in the protective manner.

"Oh, look mates, the little lady has claws." She recognized this man and his partners as Donnel, Acer, Lanno, Cane and Jakko. Donnel had been rather troublesome since she and her brother overthrew the last leader. He had been a tyrant, cruel and colder than the winter wind… and their uncle. It had taken them far too long to depose him and Donnel had been more than ready to try and take his place instead of Thianna and her brother, a fact that had almost forced her to kill him several times.

"Put down the dagger lass, we wouldn't want someone getting hurt." Donnel stepped forward and she shifted her stance, slashing her blade out in warning. "Now, now, M'lady. It's five 'gainst one. Not fair odds if you ask me."

"Not fair for you perhaps." Thiana smiled. The girl had guts.

"You've got spirit. I like that. It will make this more fun." Thiana watched as the five of them began to advance towards her. Lanno lunged at her and she dodged and lashed out, making him back up while Cane ran up on her other side. She twisted out of his grasp but barely escaped before Donnel seized her arm. She slashed a cut across his cheek. He turned away and swore, then lashed out at her, yanking her into the arms of Jakko, who held her tight. The woman had put up a decent fight for the odds clearly not being in her favor. Donnel walked forward, his hand over the cut on his cheek.

"You little bitch! I'll teach you to cut me. I was goin' to just take you back to camp and let our bosses have you but now, I'm goin' to have a bit of fun." He stepped forward, his hands going for his belt but before he could even think of getting too close Thiana let an arrow fly right past him into the ground splitting the difference between him and the young help keep their anonymity she addressed them in their own tongue.

"Did I not say that everyone was to remain at the camp?"

"Boss." He turned to her. "We meant no disrespect. We simply wanted to scout out the area."

"Oh you did, did you? I believe my brother said he would handle that." She put the end of her bow down and leaned on it, casually, waiting to hear their excuses.

"I know, boss, but the men were bored and wanted to stretch their legs and I-"

"Was foolish enough to give yourself the authority to allow them to? Not the smartest move you've ever made, Donnel." She glared at him but grinned.

"I know, m'lady. It was wrong of me." He was afraid of her, as he should be. She and her brother were not unfair, nor were they cruel, but when someone undermined them or overstepped their bounds they had been known to take the necessary measures to ensure that such defiance never occurred again.

"Yes it was. Tell me, why were you accosting this woman?"

"She cut me."

"I see. The lady lands a skillful hit and you decided to try and strike back in the worst possible way. Such actions are strictly prohibited by our laws."

"I wasn't really going to-"

"Of course you weren't." She smiled, lulling him into a false sense of comfort. "because none of my men would ever do such a thing knowing the price they'd pay, right?"

"Of course, m'lady."

"You were merely trying to scare her enough to get what you needed, correct?"

"You got it!"

"Hmm…" She walked forward, acting like she was going to reward him when, quicker than he could blink, she punched him so solidly in the gut that he fell to his knees. "Don't _ever_ defy my orders again. You've stepped out of line too many times. do it again and it will be the last, am I understood?" She glanced at all of them and they all nervously agreed. "Very good. Now, as for the girl…"

She walked towards the young woman and she stiffened, raising her chin in pride. She seemed to be a peasant judging by the dress but other factors made her seriously doubt that. Her skin, her posture, ever the way she locked eyes with her do defiantly told a much different story. She had to be a noble, but from where, and why was she alone?

"What's your name, m'lady?" She asked. The woman still held her gaze, an impressive feat. Most people looked away seconds after. The woman remained silent. "I said, what is your name?" again she received no answer. She sighed. "Do you not have a name? You must be someone. I know you're a noble, you look far too soft to be anything else. But noble women don't normally know how to knife fight so I'll ask you again: who are you?" The woman continued to only glare back at her. "Search her belongings."

As her men went to the saddle bags the horse reared up and began to fight them. He obviously did not like strangers. She didn't want to see the horse come to harm but her men seemed sorely tempted. As Cane pulled out his knife the woman pitched forward, elbowing her captor and running to her horse's side. She grabbed the reigns and pet him softly, whispering to him. Thiana liked this girl more each moment. She watched as Jakko recovered from the blow and began to go towards her. Thiana held up her hand and he stopped. Cane grabbed the saddle bags and brought them to her. She rummaged through briefly and pulled out a small bag of coins, some meager food previsions and a small medical kit. Nothing with an identifying symbol of any kind. Whoever this girl was she clearly didn't want to be recognized.

"Ok, M'lady. You don't want us to know who you are. Fair enough. But the problem is I am a curious woman by nature I am just dying to know. You're a noble woman, alone, riding cross-country with hardly any possessions at all. You're obviously running from something for a reason. Anything you want to tell me?" Again, the woman said nothing. This was frustrating.

"What are we going to do with her? Let her go?"

"No… If she's noble we can probably ransom her."

"But we don't know who to ransom her to."

"Really? I never would have guessed." The sarcasm in her voice and the look in her eyes made him take a step back. "Well, my lady, you're making this rather difficult for us. We could leave you here and let the forest decide your fate but I'm more merciful than that. We'll take you with us and hope it pays off in the long run." She saw the questioning look in the girl's eyes. "Come on boys. Take her and her horse back to the wagon. If I see so much as a slight sign that you've harmed her in any way whatever you have done to her will be child's play compared to what you shall receive, understood?" Her men nodded. She smirked. "Good. Now go and do be sure to pass on my warning to the other men." As she watched them walk into the forest she felt a sense of unease settle on her. where had the girl come from and who was she? Such a simple piece of information but one that, if her hunch about it was correct, could lead them all into serious danger. Gripping her bow she walked back into the forest following the path of the deer. She had much to think about and it would be another hour or two yet before the storm hit, just enough time for her to hopefully figure things out.


End file.
